The alarming picture of poverty in India

The International Food Policy Research Institute report has sharply criticised India for not moving fast enough to reduce malnourishment, and has said that its nutritional indicators are far worse than its economic indicators merit.

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Image: A child has his breakfast at a flood relief camp in Purniya district town of Bihar.Photographs: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters.

alarming picture of poverty in India

According to the findings of the Global Hunger Index 2012 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India's latest score in the Hunger Index (GHI) has once again returned to the 1996 levels, after showing a minor deterioration between 1996 and 2001.

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Image: A girl lies on the ground as she cries for food in Akhera village in Haryana.Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

In 1990, India's GHI score as monitored by IFPRI was 30.3, which fell to 22.6 in 1996. But again rose to 24.2 in 2001 and stood at 22.9 in 2012, much closer to 1996 levels. The lower the index, lower is number of incidence of hunger.

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Image: A child of a slum dweller eats food outside her house at a slum area in Jammu.Photographs: Amit Gupta/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

In the IFPRI's index, hunger is measured through three indicators, which are given equal weight: undernourishment, indicated by the proportion of undernourished people in total population; the proportion of children under five who are underweight; and the mortality rate of children under five.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

India's progress since 1990 in overall undernourishment has been minimal, though it has improved nourishment of children under five (by 36 per cent) and mortality of children under five (by a substantial 82 per cent).

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Image: Four-month-old Vishakha, who weighs 2.3 kg (5 lbs) and suffers from severe malnutrition, is carried at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh.Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

From 2005-2012, India is ranked second to last on child underweight -- below Ethiopia, Niger, Nepal and Bangladesh.

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Image: A woman holds her one-year-old granddaughter Sakshi, who weighs 3.8 kg (8 lbs) and suffers from severe malnutrition, while waiting to receive her medicine at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh.Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

A UNICEF study also shows that a total of 58 per cent of children under five surveyed were stunted.

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Image: A newborn baby wrapped in bandages lies in a tray just after delivery inside the labour room at a government hospital in Kasbathana village in Baran district in Rajasthan.Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

According to government figures, around 43 per cent of children under the age of five years are malnourished and more than half of all pregnancy women aged between 15 and 49 years suffer from anaemia.

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Image: our-month-old Vishakha, who weighs 2.3 kg (5 lbs) and suffers from severe malnutrition, has her picture taken as she lies on a bed at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh.Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

Every day around 3,000 Indian children die from illnesses related to malnutrition.

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Image: our-month-old Vishakha, who weighs 2.3 kg (5 lbs) and suffers from severe malnutrition, rests on a bed next to her mother at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh.Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

According to 2010 data from the United Nations Development Programme, an estimated 37.2% of Indians live below the country's national poverty line.

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Image: Three-year-old Babu, a child of a migrant labourer, holds a glass filled with tea outside a makeshift tent along a road on a cold morning in Noida in Uttar Pradesh.Photographs: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

A 2010 report by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) states that 8 Indian states have more poor than 26 poorest African nations combined which totals to more than 410 million poor in the poorest African countries.

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Image: Naushad, 18-months-old and suffering from severe malnutrition, lies on his mother's lap inside their residence in Kalonda village near Sikandrabad district in Uttar Pradesh.Photographs: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

According to a new poverty Development Goals Report, as many as 320 million people in India and China are expected to come out of extreme poverty in the next four years, while India's poverty rate is projected to drop to 22% in 2015.

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Image: Ranbir, twenty-six-months, who weighs 5 kg and suffers from severe malnutrition, waits for food at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh.Photographs: Reinhard Krause/Reuters.

The alarming picture of poverty in India

The latest UNICEF data shows that 42 per cent of the nation's children under five years of age are underweight.

Image: Six-month-old Kiran, who weighs 3.5 kg and suffers from severe malnutrition, lies in bed at the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre in Talbahet town in Uttar Pradesh.Photographs: Reinhard Krause/Reuters.